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Al-Qaeda’s regional subsidiary seized control of another large Yemeni city in the southeastern Shabwa province on Wednesday, one week after it took control of the southern province of Abyan, according to local residents and officials. “Following fierce battles with government forces, fighters of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) managed to seize the whole city of Azzan in the southeast province of Shabwa on Wednesday,” a local official told reporters. Shabwa, around 458 kilometers from the capital Sana’a, is said to be home to hundreds of Al-Qaeda fighters, including the US-born wanted Yemeni cleric Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki.
